Linked Questions
26 questions linked to/from How to best think of the State Transition Matrix, and how to use it to find periodic Halo orbits?
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What are quaternions and how are they used to represent spacecraft dynamics?
The title says it all. Quaternions are widely used to represent the orientation of a spacecraft. Why is that, and how do quaternions compare to other alternatives?
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17
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4
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Are some Halo Orbits actually Stable? (stable orbits about unstable Lagrange points)
update: some more sources; the broken site spacecraftforall.com/a-new-orbit used to have an interactive simulation, here's an old screen shot:
Hat tip to @NgPh for finding this Space College page ...
- 149k
8
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3
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What determines the orbital speed around a Lagrange point?
What value of M should I use to calculate the speed of a satellite orbiting a Lagrange point where there exists no mass?
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11
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4
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Balancing a mirror
A possible way of heating up Mars is to use mirrors to direct more sunlight towards the planet. I am not asking about the feasibility or cost of such a gigantic project, but I have a question ...
11
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What are the practical uses of a state transition matrix?
I am studying different dynamical models of relative motion of satellites. In my work, I've always just used a numerical integrator like RK78 to integrate the cartesian system of equations:
$\dot{r}=...
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11
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1
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What is the difference between halo orbits and Lissajous orbits?
The Wikipedia articles for halo orbit and Lissajous orbit leave me wondering how these two orbits are different from an orbital mechanical point of view.
Could they be discussed together here, so I ...
- 149k
14
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1
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What sort of orbital elements are used to describe halo orbits?
For standard orbits we can use Keplerian elements, TLE, or other similar. These don't make much sense for Halo orbits, which are not around a central body, but around a Lagrangian point, and follow an ...
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6
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3
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'Orbiting' Earth-Moon L1
I'm a Sci-Fi author, trying to keep the physics real in my books. I am in the process of moving a space station to the Earth-Moon $L_1$. I've read that a vessel can't just sit at that point, but has ...
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2
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What precisely is downrange distance - how is it defined mathematically?
Wikipedia:
Downrange is the horizontal distance traveled by a spacecraft, or the spacecraft's horizontal distance from the launch site.
Spacecraft don't travel horizontally. I don't even know how ...
- 149k
3
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3
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393
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Could the Lunar Lagrange Points work for space telescopes?
Every orbit in space has its pros and cons. Low Earth Orbit has accessibility but frequent eclipses whereas a Solar Lagrange Point is clear and stable but distant. In the case of the Lunar Lagrange ...
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7
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What is the physical interpretation of the eigenvalues of the monodromy matrix and how are they associated with the invariant manifolds?
To define the monodromy matrix, assume that the period for one cycle of a halo orbit is denoted as $T$, the initial time as $t_0$, and the state-transition matrix is defined as $\phi$. Then, the ...
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11
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How does QUESS, China's quantum communications satellite experiment, relay entangled signals?
China launched the Quantum Experiments at Space Scale (QUESS) on the satellite called MOZI or Micius today, which will be used for quantum communications between China and Europe. Popular Science ...
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2
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2
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Two-body problem VS Three-body problem Applications
The two-body problem deals with two bodies under certain assumptions while the restricted three-body problem deals with three bodies where one has a negligible mass (i.e. spacecraft or comet)
I was ...
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2
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2
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Variation of restricted 3 body problem
I'm in the process of programming a space game which will involve a 3-body system. I'm thinking of making a simplified version of the restricted 3 body problem where:
Body A is fixed in space,
Body B ...
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6
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JWST Halo Orbits for Dummies: can halo orbits be usefully approximated by Simple Harmonic Motion?
Halo Orbits for Dummies: can halo orbits be usefully approximated by Simple Harmonic Motion?
I am an undergraduate in the Kerbal Academy of Astrodynamics. Patched conics have given me an intuitive ...
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